Rolling of cylindrical components having non-planar ends



Aug. 19, 1969 J. MARCOVITCH I ROLLING OF CYLINDRICAL COMPONENTS HAVING NON-PLANAR ENDS Filed May 1, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fl- 9', 1969 J. MARCOVITCH I 3,461,701

ROLLING OF CYLINDRICAL COMPONENTS HAVING NON-PLANAR ENDS Filed May 1, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J fw United States Patent 3,461,701 ROLLING OF CYLINDRICAL COMPONENTS HAVING NON-PLANAR ENDS Jacob Marcovitch, Johannesburg, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa, assignor to Rotary Profile Anstalt, Vaduz, Liechtenstein Filed May 1, 1967, Ser. No. 634,945 Claims priority, application Republic of South Africa, May 5, 1966, 66/2,613 Int. Cl. B21h 1/02; B2lb 15/00; B21k N32 US. Cl. 7284 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cylindrical article is made by a profiling operation consisting in gripping a blank between side cheeks which bear on its end and rollers which bear on its circumference, rotating the side cheeks and rollers, and forcing the cheeks towards each other to thin it and profile its. ends. The cheeks are initially inclined to each other and are progressively tilted into parallelism. The rollers are moved outwards to make way for the diametral spread, and are finally forced inwardly to compact the blank and profile its circumference.

This invention relates to the manufacture of cylindrical articles having one or both ends nonplanar.

The article may be solid or pierced along its axis. The

invention is particularly suited to the manufacture of articles having a diameter considerably greater than their thickness, such as railway wheels and the like.

It is comm-on for articles of this general nature to be made by pressing for forging, often followed by machining. These processes have the advantage that the material of the blank is strongly compressed and compacted while being worked, so eliminating voids and enhancing the quality of the finished article. If sophisticated profiles are to be imposed on the blank, entailing extensive deformation, large forces must be generated, and the operation and equipment become cumbersome and expensive.

Where rolling techniques have been employed, they have usually entailed rolling the blank between rollers which operate on itsends and circumference, contacting the blank only in a small zone of its surface on which a high pressure can be imposed locally. This concept has the advantage that lighter machines can be used, but it gives rise to problems of supporting the blank, particularly when it is unpierced, and of confining it to prevent buckling and irregular deformation. There is also generally a lesser degree of compaction of the blank then in pressing and forging. Preforming of the blank to the general contour required of the finished article is often necessary. I

The object of this invention is to provide a rolling process and apparatus which ensures that the blank is well compacted and worked throughout its mass but which requires only moderate power for its operation.

Another object is to provide a rolling process and apparatus capable of working on an unpierced blank such as a slug cropped from a bar, without preforming the blank.

According to the invention, a process of manufacturing a cylindrical article by a profiling operation consists in gripping a blank between juxtaposed side cheeks that are tilted at an angle to each other and bear on a portion of the end surfaces of the blank, and between rollers located around the blank to grip its circumference, rotating the side checks to impose rotation on the blank and the rollers, forcing the side cheeks towards each other to thin the blank and spread its diametrally and profile its end surfaces, and simultaneously tilting the side cheeks progressively into parallelism with each other to cause them to bear on the full end surfaces of the blank, moving the rollers radially outwardly to make way for the diametral spread of the blank, and when the side cheeks have been moved into parallelism, forcing the rollers radially inwardly to compact the material of the blank and impose their profile on its circumference.

The blank, if metal, will normally be preheated to a temperature at which it is easily plastically deformable. Relatively soft materials, however, such as lead, may be worked in the cold, the heat generated during the profiling operation assisting the process.

An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partly in section, of apparatus for carrying out the invention, some components being omitted for the sake of clarity;

FIGURE 2 is a view through the apparatus on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the apparatus defining the profiling cavity, showing the arrangement at the start of the operation; and

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 3, showing the arrangement at the conclusion of the operation.

As best seen in FIGURE 2, three rollers 10', 12 and 14 are arranged triangle-wise around the circumference of a blank 16. The rollers 10, 12, 14 are rotatable about their axes and each is mounted in a ram 18 which extends from a hydraulic cylinder 20, so that each roller is movable inwardly towards the blank and outwardly from it. It would suffice if only one roller were so movable, to allow relative movement of the rollers among themselves, but it is preferable that each should be movable. For large or irregularly shaped blanks it would also be desirable that means be provided to drive at least one, and preferably all, the rollers, but such driving means are not illustrated in the drawings.

The three cylinders 20 are mounted in a triangular frame 22 attached to a base crosspiece 24. The crosspiece 24 is fixed at its centre to a longitudinal base 26 (FIG- URE 1), so that the frame 22 stands at right angles to the longitudinal base 26. In FIGURE 1, the frame 22 and roller 12 have been omitted for the sake of clarity.

Centrally mounted on the base 26 is a pivot head 28 to which are pivoted, about a common point 30, two caliper arms 32, 32. The arms are moved about the point 30 by hydraulic cylinders 34, 34 each connected between the base 26 and the arm which it governs. Mounted in each arm 32 is a fixed sleeve 40. Set in bearings in the sleeves 40 are side cheeks 42 and 44 which bear on the ends of the blank 16. As seen in the sectioned portion of FIGURE 1 and in FIGURES 3 and 4, a spike 46 extends axially through each check 42, 44 for indentation of the centres of the end faces of the blank 16. The far ends of the side cheeks 42, 44 have a splined bore into which extends a complementally splined hollow shaft 36 to drive the check. The shafts 36 are rotated by hydraulic motors 52, 52 of the radial piston type. Each spike 46, extending through the hollow shaft 36 and motor 52, is axially movable within its cheek by a hydraulic cylinder 54 mounted at the end of the caliper arm 32.

The blank 16, as seen in FIGURE 3, starts the operation as a more or less cylindrical slug, conveniently cropped from a length of bar, and preheated to a suitable temperature. Its circumference is gripped and trued by the rollers during the initial stage of the profiling operation, while its ends are gripped and worked by the cheeks.

To insert the blank 16 in the machine, the rollers 10, 12, 14 are withdrawn on their arms 18 by actuating the cylinders 20, and the cheeks 42, 44 are retracted by ac-.

tuating the cylinders 34. This opens the profiling cavity to receive the blank. The cylinders 20 and 34 are then actuated to support and centralise the blank between the rollers and cheeks. This situation is illustrated in FIG URES 1, 2 and 3, with the rollers in gripping engagement around the circumference of the blank and the cheeks tilted at an angle to each other so that only a portion of their surfaces bears on the blank. It will be seen that the cheeks 42, 44 are profiled complementally to the shape required of the ends of the finished article (FIGURE 4), except that escape gaps 58, 60 are provided in one of the cheeks to accommodate excess material extruded into them as a flash during the operation, particularly towards its end,

With the blank supported and centralised, the cheeks 42, 44 are rotated by means of the motors 52 to impart rotation to the blank. The blank in turn causes the rollers 10, 12, 14 to rotate at the correct speed. Simultaneously with rotation of the cheeks 42, 44, the hydraulic cylinders 34 are actuated to force the arms 32, 32, and thus the cheeks, inwardly on to the blank. This movement lessens the width of the profiling cavity and deforms the end faces of the blank. As the tilting movement proceeds, the cheeks progressively bear on a greater area of the end faces of the blank, causing them to assume the required shape. Thinning of the blank is of course accompanied by diametral spread, and to make way for it, the rollers are moved outwardly by actuating the cylinders 20.

In the final position of the cheeks 42, 44, illustrated in FIGURE 4, the checks are parallel and axially aligned and engage the full end faces of the formed blank. When this stage is reached, the rollers 10, 12, 14 are forced inwardly by actuation of the cylinders 20 to ensure proper compaction and filling of the article and to impose their profile on the circumference of the blank, their function in the preceding stages having been in the nature of steadying the blank and trueing its circumference. In the final position of the rollers, after having completed their profiling and filling function, they are located between the cheeks and are bracketed by them. In practice a slight gap will remain between the rollers and the side cheeks to prevent contact between them, but it is desirable that as much of the volume of the blank should be enclosed as is possible, so that it may be worked throughout its mass. Any surplus material, beyond that required to fill the article exactly, is forced into the escape gaps 58, 60.

If it is desired to indent the blank axially, for instance to form an axial hole therein, the spikes 46 may be progressively extended during the profiling operation. Entry of the spikes into the blank while the cheeks are tilted facilitates the formation of the indentations, since less force is required to form the indentation this way than would be required if the spike were forced head-on into the blank. When profiling has been completed, one of the spikes 46 may be withdrawn and the other advanced, by actuating its hydraulic cylinder 54, to pass right through the thickness of the formed article.

Formation of indentations by the spikes has the advantage that plastic flow of the material takes place radially outwardly from the axis of the blank. This assists in the proper filling of the article near the hole,

Where the blank is large, far less power is required to profile it with the tilting cheeks than is required when '4 the cheeks are moved inwardly from a startingposition in which they are parallel.

Patterning the side-cheeks with indentations or protrusions such as gear teeth falls well within the scope of the invention and it is to be noted that consistently precise components in all their dimensions can be produced by the invention as it caters for an overflow of material due to a variance of blank sizes.

It may well be that the variance coud be excessive and therefore special allowance could be made on any desired face or dimension for subsequent removal by machining. Nevertheless, the major portion of the component is still produced to exacting consistent dimensions, greatly reducing the machining required by the known art.

I claim:

1. A process of manufacturing a cylindrical article from a blank, comprising gripping the blank between juxtaposed side checks that are tilted at an angle to each other to bear on a portion of the end surfaces of the blank, andbetween rollers located around the blank to bear on its circumference, rotating the side cheeks to impose rotation on the blank and the rollers, forcing the side cheeks towards each other to thin the blank and spread it diametrally and profile its end surfaces, and simultaneously tilting the side cheeks progressively towards and into parallelism with each other to cause them to bear on the full end surfaces of the blank, moving the rollers radially outwardly to make way for the diametral spread of the blank, and when the side cheeks have been moved into parallelism, forcing the rollers radially inwardly to compact the material of the blank and impose their profiles on its circumference.

2. The process of claim 1, in which the rollers, after being forced radially inwardly, extend into the space between the side checks.

3. The process of claim 2, in which the rollers close the space between the side cheeks to prevent escape of the material of the blank.

4. The process of claim 1, including the step of forcing surplus material from the blank into an escape gap.

5. The process of claim 4, in which the surplus material is forced into an escape gap provided by a groove in one of the side cheeks.

6. The process of claim 1, including the step of piercing the blank before the rollers are advanced radially inwardly, said piercing being accomplished by advancing a spike through at least one of the side cheeks to penetrate the blank.

7. The process of claim 1, in which at least one of the rollers is driven by external means to assistin rotating the blank. 7

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 430,750 6/1890 Ralston, et 211. 72 107 965,032 7/1910 Slick 72-84- 1,005,230 10/1911 Knight 72-82 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl X.R. 72-101, 110 

